Re: [Marxism] The criticism of religion [was: RE: Vnzla:reasons tobe optimistic]

[Haines Brown <brownh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> From: "Joaquin Bustelo" 
> > My point is really not complicated. Struggling hard is useless or
> > worse if you have no clue as to what you are doing.  > ...  Now
> > look at, for example, the last half-century of so of "struggling"
> > on the American Left, and judging by the results, do you have a
> > warm and fuzzy feeling about all the progress that has been made?
> 
> So, the US Left shouldn't have bothered?

To put Alan's objection into simplistic terms: I know for sure that
I'll die. Does that mean I should not bother to do anything with my
life?

Of course not, but why not? The reason is existential. The process of
living is an end in itself, and arguably is more important than any
goals that I might set for myself. Of course, we have goals and need
to have them in life, for they give direction to our efforts, but
these goals must be "authentic" - they must be grounded in our actual
needs and capacities.

To put this into context, the aim of a socialist is not to achieve
some theoretical or model social order such as "communism", but to
take such action under present circumstances as will more fully draw
upon human powers to affect the system in which we live so as to
better satisfy our need to develop our powers. To do that, we need to
arrive at a conception of the kind of structures through which our
powers are most likely to develop, but that conception is not an end,
but a means.

-- 
 
       Haines Brown, KB1GRM

         
        

________________________________________________
YOU MUST clip all extraneous text before replying to a message.
Send list submissions to: Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism